Chapter 20
Third POV
Good, safe things to do while visiting Fishman Island: Visit the Mermaid Café, the Candy Factory, the Sea forest, maybe even Gyoncorde Plaza.
Bad, unsafe things to do while visiting Fishman Island: Go to the Fishman District, explore the sea caves, party with the Whitebeard Pirates.
Out of all the good things to do on Fishman Island, Mila had yet to do any. Out of all the bad things to do on Fishman Island, Mila had done two out of three. Exploring the sea caves really wasn't that dangerous to Mila, but it still ranked up on the list. After all, she was pretty sure she had stumbled over a human skull that morning. She had yet to go near the Fishman District, but wouldn't mind checking it out before sailing on. But partying with the Whitebeard Pirates had to be the worst thing to do on the whole island, worse than just jumping straight through the bubble and into the deep sea. When they get going, they never stop.
The party went late into the night, so late, that despite Mila's hardest effort, she fell asleep on Whitebeard's shoulder. The first time she had dozed off, she just flopped onto his neck. Later she was jolted awake by Whitebeard's deep laughter, but dozed off yet again. The next time when Mila fell asleep, she toppled off to the side and slipped straight off his shoulder. Thanks to Whitebeard and his observation haki, he caught her before she splattered on the floor. After that tiny debacle, Mila was ordered off to bed. A tiny kink in their declaration was that no one was willing to take Mila back to the ship. And if someone did, they didn't want to stay on the ship alone with a sleeping child. Not even Izo was willing, he was still salty about her being late and all. And who in their right mind would leave a child alone on a pirate ship surrounded by other pirate ships. So a logical choice, in the eyes of pirates, was to let her sleep in the palace.
"You can sleep in the nursery with the princes or you can have on of the empty rooms in the guest wing on the other side of the palace." Instructed a weird looking ell man with blonde hair. Mila was teetering to the side, eyes half open. She was sitting on Whitebeard's foot after being banned from his shoulder. Now she was trying to listen to the minister of something explain the sleeping situations.
"No!"
"Yes!"
The loud yells of Neptune and Whitebeard shot Mila awake.
"Mila will sleep in the guest wing, not anywhere near those sons of yours!" Whitebeard screamed.
"My sons will be great company for your daughter-jamon! Why should she sleep alone when she can be in my sons' delightful presence?" Neptune countered at Whitebeard, matching his volume.
Mila squinted up at Whitebeard, yawning, "Is this about that Fukaboshi?"
"Yes! You will not be allowed in his vicinity, it's all his evil plan to marry you off!" Whitebeard's voice quaked so much that his foot shook, along with Mila.
"Evil? She would be blessed to marry my son-jamon! She would be a princess!"
"She already is," Whitebeard said, "the princess of the Whitebeard Pirates!" The remaining coherent pirates cheered drunkenly at his declaration.
Ignoring their kindergarten level argument, Mila turned to the weird ell minister, "Mr. Minister, which one is the closest?" she asked.
He nervously glanced at Whitebeard, "The nursery is the nearest," he finally said.
Before either Neptune or Whitebeard could protest or say anything at all, Mila spoke up, "I'll take the nursery then," she shot a look at Whitebeard, "I'm tried and I'm going to sleep in the nearest bed possible, and if it happens to be in the same area of these princes you'll have to learn to deal with it." Neptune shot a victorious look at his friend while he kept his lips sealed at the command of his youngest child.
"There is another option…" the ell fishman looked nervously at King Neptune, as if they had a silent conservation, Neptune seemed to understand the look and nodded. The minister directed his gaze back at Mila, "There is the hard-shell tower. The princess lives there, very well-guarded and almost as close as the nursery." He glanced up at Whitebeard, "Are theses suitable accommodations for Mila?"
"YES!" Whitebeard said, "These are much better, perfect actually!"
Huffing in his seat, Neptune looked like a tiny boy who had their toy taken away or lost a game. In some way he had, Mila would be nowhere near his sons like he had hoped. Mila pushed herself up off Whitebeard's gloating foot and said her sleepy goodnights to her dad and some of her brothers. The ell fishman led Mila down a different hallway from the one the guard had led her through previously. This hallway only resembled the other in the aspect that they both had the bubble walling. This hallway had more ornate pillars with guards lining the side, each looked aware and skeptical of Mila. Mila let her eyes wandered toward them, every single one had their respective coral weapon that looked like it could easily run her through.
Nearing the ending of the hall, Mila spotted a large tower on the edge of the palace limits. A tiny pathway led around it. Mila peered over at the minister, who was about the same height as her, "Why is the princess in such a tower?" she asked, honestly curious why a princess would be in such a gloomy and frightening place.
"It's for her own protection," he said stiffly, not giving her any more information.
Mila crinkled her nose at him behind his back, such a stick in the mud. Coming to a large metal door, one large than most ceilings, they came to a stop. The minister nodded to the guards on either side of the doors, communicating in their secret language of silent gestures. The two muscular fishman simultaneously opened the doors, it squeaking in protest at being opened.
Before completely opening the entrance to the tower, the minister leaned over to Mila. "The princess," he said, "has always been extremely fragile. After the queen's death she became very emotional, whatever you do, please don't upset her."
Mila studied him and tried to focus on what he was saying, but her mind was fuzzy with sleep. The part about death did make it through Mila's haze of fluffy sheep in her mind. "Her mother died?"
The minister nodded, watching the opening between the doors widen, "Two years ago she was assassinated while trying to bring the two races together," he said rigidly, "it was very tragic. It traumatized must of the country, she was beloved by all who met her, no one could have asked for a better queen."
Mila awkwardly stood there, not sure on what to say, she just wished the doors would open faster. Not as nearly as soon as she had wished, the doors opened. The lights were dimmed inside the tower, so only blurry outlines of what seemed to be gigantic furniture could be seen. A figure equal in size of the furniture rustled, its' movements sluggish and slow.
Mila took in a sharp breathe, could they have a giant monster protecting the princess, or is the princess a giant monster. It would explain why they would keep her locked in a tower.
"Princess-sama, we have a guest for you," said the Minister.
Oh no, thought Mila, they were going to offer her up as a sacrifice to monster princess. How could dad think this was a better arrangement then sleeping with a few princes?!
"A guest?" said a soft, sleepy princess. Not something one would expect a giant monster to sound like.
"Yes, she is with the Whitebeard pirates and needs a place to sleep, do you mind if she spends the night here?"
A quick response came almost immediately, "Yes, yes please!" She probably was hungry and wanted to eat Mila.
The minister turned to Mila, "When you go in, you won't be able to come out till morning. We can only open the door for so long."
Mila hesitated, "Umm," she stalled. She kind of didn't want go in the sketchy tower with the mystery monster princess.
"You go in now, or you go back and explain to your captain and my King what happened," The mister said briskly, rather like a douche actually.
Mumbling rude remarks at him under her breathe, Mila inched her way into the tower. Before she was barely through the door they slammed behind her. Awkwardly keeping her back to the door, she crept along the side of the curved wall. Mila could feel the tension between her and the mystery princess, no one dared speak. Mila's foot bashed into something and whatever it was toppled down, making loud crashing noises, which was as equally awkward as the silence.
Out of the quietness came a quiet inquiry, "Hello?"
Crap, Mila thought, "Hi," she replied hesitantly.
A few moments later, light filled the circular room, revealing the princess of Fishman Island to the daughter of the infamous Whitebeard. It was surprise to both of them. The princess was a giant mermaid with a pink tail, lighter pink scales striped down the length of it. Light pink hair framed her baby like face. Two giant unearthly blue orbs were placed evenly in her face. She was still a child, more of a child than Mila at least, but she was more beautiful than any other woman Mila had ever seen. Goddamn, Mila thought, she's stunning.
The princess was almost as equally shocked. She was just shocked at seeing another person up close. A human at that too. She hadn't seen a human since the day her mother died. They were smaller than she remembered. This one particular, she was so tiny and had such blue hair, hair that reminded her of the deep sea she barely got to see anymore. It was very nostalgic. Her eyes were a shade of green she had never encountered before. It wasn't surprising, she hadn't experienced much of anything her whole life, due to being stuck in the tower all alone. And she was a pirate too, a Whitebeard pirate. Her father had told her stories about Whitebeard, he was strong and brave, a force to be reckoned with, and this tiny girl was part of his crew. It was out of her small, confined world.
"Hey," the Mila broke yet another awkward, stretching silence that spanned over the time when they were examining each other.
"Hi," the princess said simply, not sure the proper social precautions one proceeded with in this sort of situation.
"So, I'm Mila and I was kinda wondering if I could sleep here, ya know, tonight?" Mila said, deciding that repeatedly reiterating different variations of the word hello wasn't going to get them far. "It's kind of too late to ask though, because the ell guy already said I was locked in here till morning and there's no way to get out, so yeah." She mumbled half under her breathe.
"Oh, um, it's fine, really fine. You can sleep anywhere, this is a big bed, so there's that or the floor, or one of my pillows. They're really big and you're really small so it'll work." She rambled, very unsure of herself.
"Thanks," Mila inched away from the wall she had been hugging and went to the edge of the bed, "if you don't mind I'll just take this tiny corner over here, you won't even know I'm here."
"I don't mind, not at all. I haven't really talked to anyone for this long in a while so it's nice," she confessed.
Mila gently eased herself onto the corner of the bed she had claimed for herself, "I've only heard you being referred to as princess, what's your actual name?"
"Shirahoshi," She replied.
"That's chill, much more exotic than Mila. It's got this royal ring to it, like you're meant to be a princess," Mila said, just saying the first thing that came to her sleep deprived mind, "Mila is just super plain."
"I-I think it's pretty," Shirahoshi whispered, pulling her pink blanket up to her chin.
Fluffing her little area, Mila smiled, "Well thanks, I'm sort of suck with it, have been for around ten years."
"I'm eight,"
"Very cool," Mila said, smiling to herself at the younger girl's enthusiasm. She was so eager and sweet, Mila couldn't believe she thought there was a monster in here, just a sweet child. She curled up on the mattress, "so you have some brothers, what are they like? My father seems to think they're a bad influence."
"They're very nice," Shirahoshi exclaimed, clearly very close to her brothers, "I have three brothers, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi. Ryuboshi, and Manboshi are really funny, they're always really amusing and they make me laugh all the time. Fukaboshi is really smart and nice, he always protects me and loves everybody. They're all so wonderful,"
"Make great husbands," Mila murmurs quietly, more to herself than anything else.
"Did you say something?" Shirahoshi asked.
"Nope, just talking in my sleep," she said lazily.
The princess was confused, "you're awake though,"
"Not for long…" Mila said lightly as sleep grabbed hold of her and she drifted off in the oversized seashell bed of a fish princess.
Mila and Shirahoshi woke the next morning to the creaking sound of the door of the hard shell tower. Mila jerked up, forgetting where she was. That's what happens when people go to sleep, they forget all their problems and worries while sleep takes over their mind. It seems as though when Mila falls asleep, she forgets where she is. It has never happened when she's where she belongs, on board the Moby Dick surrounded by her family.
Light streaked into the tower and blinded Mila momentarily. As Mila's eyes adjusted to the new light, Mila saw Rakuyo standing in the door way. "Good morning Mila, good morning princess-sama."
Mila glanced over at Shirahoshi, she was slowly rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Hey Rakuyo, what's up?" she asked, pushing herself up from the comfiest seashell she had ever slept on.
"I'm going into town to order some supplies before we ship off, I want to do it while everyone is still preoccupied. Do you need to do any errands while I'm out?" he asked, leaning against the side of the doorway.
Mila considered it, and nodded, "A girl can never have too many books," She hopped down from the bed and started to amble out of the room backwards. "Thanks for letting me sleep here Shirahoshi, it was really nice talking to you. Would it be okay if I stopped by before we leave?" Mila asked, smiling at the younger girl's expression as her face slowly lit up.
"Yes!" she said, nodding vigorously.
"Then it's a deal, I'll see you around!" Mila flipped herself around and stepped through the doorway of the hard shell tower.
"Close the doors!" announced the minister, who had escorted Rakuyo to the tower when he had went in search of his baby sister. The doors shut on the face of the beaming princess.
Still basking in the afterglow of the princess's smile, Mila spun to Rakuyo and smoothed her wrinkled dress. That's what sleeping without changing got her, not that she had any other clothes to change into or that Shirahoshi's would have fit her. "So how are we getting down there? I mean I know how to get down there, but how would you?"
"Well," he smirked, "we have access to the royal gondola, which is going to take us done and back up when we're done,"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could stay on the island for the day?" she asked, seemingly innocent as plans started to form in her mind, "I'll just pop back up here when I'm done if no one's on the ship."
Rakuyo scrutinized Mila, his own mind trying to figure out her, younger, smarter one. "I guess that's fine. Fishman Island is a safe place, no one will bother you unless you go looking for trouble, and I assume you're not."
"Of course, when do I ever?" Mila smirked, not really bothering to hide her devious nature.
Rakuyo started striding away from the tower, Mila in tow. "Just stay away from the fishman district, they tend not to like humans,"
Picking up her pace, Mila easily caught up to Rakuyo, "I will," she hummed
The gondola ride was not exactly what Mila had expected. Nothing these days were what she expected though, but the gondola was really unexpected. First of all, it wasn't actually a boat, but a really long, big fish. Plushy seats lined the inside of gondola, bubble windows lined all the walls. Mila hopped from seat to seat as she tried to peer through every window and see the great view of the island floating below the giant fish boat. Rakuyo leaned against the back of the bench, silently going through a list of supplies he planned on ordering. He would occasionally look up to see if Mila had fallen through the bubble yet. She was leaning so close to the window her face was almost touching it.
When the gondola started to descend into the main bubble of the island, Mila jumped onto the cushion next to Rakuyo, giggling him slightly. "Hey, is it okay for me to just pop down there and met up with you later?"
He nodded, grinning faintly, "Sure, but if you stop by a book store, which I'm sure you will, can you pick up one of the current guides to heart therapy?"
She nodded, "Sure, any particular volume?"
He considered this for a moment, twirling his mustache lazily, "No," he finally decided, "I trust that you'll find the best option. And here," he pulled a tiny drawstring bag out of one of his pockets and handed it to her, "to cover the expenses," he explained with a wink.
Mila greedily took it with a grateful smile and said her goodbyes before she took a small jump to outside the gondola. She landed outside the gondola a few feet above it so Rakuyo could watch her plunge past him as she plummeted to the island. A wild grin broke over her face as she relished in the feeling of the air rushing around her as she fell. Mila twisted herself midair to face the ground. She absently calculated her time before she splattered on the ground. The free feeling of falling was bliss. It was the closest she could get to flying, but it only lasted a brief moment, then she was back on the ground, anchored. With a sorrowful sigh, she regrettably blinked onto the busy street that had been below her moments before.
Brushing of the forlorn feeling of being grounded, Mila trekked on, she had a plan to execute.
Rakuyo causally looked through a window of fishman weaponry, admiring a pair of thin blades while a seemingly random thought flitted through the back of his mind.
"Rakuyo!" a tiny child voice called out to him. He angled his head toward the voice, not bothering to turn his whole body.
"Oh, hey Mila," he said naturally, recognizing his little sister and her trade mark blue head, "done so soon?"
She bounded over to him, nodding, "Yep, I got everything I need plus the books you wanted," she stated, jostling the oversize pile of books in her arms, "your books are on top."
"Thank you," he told her, gently removing the first few books off the top of her load. He wrinkled his eyebrows upon brushing something unnaturally bumpy. Skeptical, he examined the book that was left on top Mila's pile. "Nolan the Liar? In brail? Why in the world would you need this?" asked Rakuyo, clearly confused, "I didn't even know you could read brail."
"Oh, well," Mila stated to stutter, "um, I like the feel of the dots?"
"So you can't even read it?"
"I can."
"Wouldn't you want something, I don't know, more stimulating?"
"No." she answered simply.
"Mila, is something going on-"
"Nope, nope nope nope, everythings super! So I'll see you later, right?" without waiting for a reply, she kept rambling, "cool, have fun with those books."
She darted off into the street, her head blending in with the multicolored scales of the native inhabitants of the island. That girl will forever continue to befuddle him. Shaking his head, he looked to see what she had bought him. Instead medical guides for heart therapy, there were titles like Therapy for the Broken Hearted. Shaking his head even harder he realized he should have written it down for her. For a child genius, she had the memory of a fly for anything not written down.